Items tagged with Google Maps
Years ago, the method of navigating was either printing out directions from MapQuest or pulling out the absurdly large Rand-McNally map for the state and figuring it out the quickest way to your destination. You would not have access to live data like accidents, police activity, and road conditions as you do now with mobile devices. Since the “dark times,” Google has been “pushing the boundaries of what a map can do, propelled by the latest machine learning” and is “on track to bring over 100 AI-powered improvements to Google Maps.” Indoor Navigation Have you ever gotten lost or turned around in an airport, mall, train station, or other large, yet crowded location?...
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Google Maps is sometimes a godsend for frequent road travelers, but it can also be odd at times with random route miscues or occasional misinformation. In a time where digital information is paramount in getting things done, having access to quality and factual information about routes and businesses is important. Thus, Google is now allowing anyone with a Google Account to contribute local knowledge to Google Maps in three new ways. Reviews And Updates Challenge Typically, reviews of a business are a decent way to decide whether to take your business there or elsewhere. Moreover, reviews can provide information you may not have otherwise known, such as a specific dish being the best at a specific...
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Google Maps is used by millions of people every day to make commutes easier and hopefully faster. As the saying goes, “work smarter, not harder,” but Google is looking to translate that to “drive smarter, not harder” with AI implementation into Google Maps. According to Google, over 1 billion kilometers (621371189mi) are traveled every day with Google Maps. Subsequently, a whole load of aggregate location data is collected. While this feature has been manipulated, it generally provides data on what traffic looks like immediately. Immediate information, however, does not help you plan a route when things can change spontaneously. As Google states, the gap between now and...
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Google Maps is getting a few changes that will bring new features to the popular navigation service. The new features include tweaks to the user interface and navigation to public transit options, among others. The first-mile transit options show people how to connect to public transit by walking, biking, motorcycle, ride sharing, and rickshaw. Those first-mile options are intended to show people multiple ways where they can get from their starting location to public transit to start their commute. This new feature sounds very much like last-mile service that shows users how they can get from places like the train station to their final destination. Google Maps is also gearing up to give users...
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Time flies when you’re having fun. Google Maps is turning fifteen years old in 2020. Google Maps is celebrating its 15th birthday with updated tabs, upcoming features, and a fresh logo. The new look and features are intended to improve navigation, encourage exploration, and provide information about public transportation. Google Maps is kicking off the birthday with a celebratory logo, which includes a pin to represent the evolution of Google Maps over the last fifteen years. There will also be a temporary party-themed car icon that will appear when users use the app to navigate. Google Maps will add five tabs that will appear on the bottom of the app-- Explore, Commute, Saved, Contribute,...
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Google Maps and other related apps are part of many of our daily activities. Google Maps provides directions, information about traffic, restaurant recommendations, and many other services. However, it is also important to remember that these kinds of apps can be easily manipulated. Artist Simon Weckert recently tested the limitations of Google Maps and questioned how this tool can impact our actions and the distribution of power. Simon Weckert is a Berlin-based artist who is particularly interested in the value of technology. For this particular performance and installation, Weckert placed 99 smartphones in a small wagon and walked across the Shilling Bridge in Berlin. The bridge appeared “green”,...
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Anyone familiar with Google Maps knows that the search giant sends out cars that have weird-looking camera masts on top, to record footage that allows you to look at what a historic destination, homes, or business looks like from the street level. Some images of amusement parks and other historical places are captured using bikes or people walking. However, a new trend for Google Maps has gone viral that started when a woman found images of her deceased grandfather on Google Maps Street View sitting in his yard. The woman, Leslie Barraza, tweeted a 13-second screen capture of Street View images taken as the Google car rolled through her grandfather's farm. Some of the final images show her grandfather...
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You have to hand it to Google, despite any misgivings you might have towards the company as a whole, it delivers some interesting products and services. One of them is Google Maps. I personally think it is an underappreciated service, though Google continues to improve it all the time. It also sprinkles in some fun features, the newest of which is a hyperdrive animation when traveling from one planet to the next. This is the sort of thing that tickles our inner nerd. It is also a well-timed feature update, with the newest Star Wars film now playing in theaters. Until someone builds an actual Millennium Falcon and offers affordable rides through space, this is perhaps the closest thing we will...
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Google acquired Waze, a GPS navigation software app, way back in 2013. Google and Waze work mostly independently from one another, but Google has recently incorporated a few features that were inspired by Waze. Google Map users will now be able to report speed traps and crashes on iOS devices. According to Google, these new tools, “...reflect real-time contributions from the community so you can stay even more informed when you’re behind the wheel.” iOS users can now report report crashes, speed traps and other traffic slowdowns directly from their iPhone. This feature has been available on Android for over a year, but is a welcome addition for iOS users. Android and iOS Google...
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Google has announced an update to Google Maps this week that makes it easier for users to travel their first and last miles to their destination. Some commuters have complicated routes that involve multiple modes of transportation and thanks to the update, transit directions can be paired with biking and ridesharing options. Google says that users can enter their destination into the search box, tap Directions and then tap on the Transit tab. Routes will automatically be shown that include ridesharing and cycling options paired with transit directions. Those who will be using a ridesharing vehicle will see information about those legs of the trip, like how much the ride will cost and how long...
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Google Maps has new features that are aimed at making it easier to stay organized and to find your way when walking around on vacation or for business. One of the updates makes it easier for travelers to have all their reservations for air travel and hotel in one place. Google says that the new feature is a great way to keep reservations handy, allowing users to see hotel check-in time as they navigate to the next destination on the itinerary. To use the new feature, users tap the three gray lines at the top, left the corner of your screen and then on "Your Places." The "Reservations" tab lets users see all upcoming trips, and when a trip is selected from the list, all reservations are pulled...
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How people get around in big cities has changed dramatically in recent years, and for those who don't live in big cities, it can be hard to figure out where to get and return these new modes of transport (a la bikesharing). Google Maps is looking to make it easier for people trying to get around in urban areas to find bikesharing pickup and drop off locations. Google says that estimates show there are more than 1,600 bikesharing systems and over 18 million shared bikes in urban centers globally. Google notes that for the last year, travelers and commuters in New York City have been using Google Maps to locate bikesharing stations and to see how many bikes are available at a station in real-time....
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Slowly but surely, Google is incorporating more of Waze's features into its home brewed Maps app. If you've used Google Maps recently, you may have noticed that it includes speed limit information, and will verbally alert you to speed limit cameras in your path. On top of those recent additions, Google is now expanding the SOS alerts in Maps. The intent is to more reliably alert Google Maps users to where a disaster is, such as a wildfire, and to anticipate where it's headed. As it stands, SOS alerts already provide various crisis information to users, such as a summary of what's happening, related news stories, emergency phone numbers and websites, and even Twitter update from local authorities....
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Google Maps has been slowly building up its feature set over the last few years to make the app better for people all around the world. In January 2019, Google Maps tested a speed limit indicator feature in a few countries that has, over the last few months, rolled out to most users. Earlier this month, Google Maps was asking for images of users' lunch to enhance its restaurant's listings. Google Maps is now rolling out a feature that could help you avoid a speeding ticket. Google has been testing the ability for Maps to list the location of speed cameras on a displayed route. This is a feature that was first offered in the Google-owned Waze app, and the feature has been available in some countries...
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Are you craving Chinese take-out? Hungering for a hamburger? You no longer need a slew of third party apps to get some apps to your door. Users will now be able to easily order food from Google Assistant, Maps, and Search. Participating restaurants will have an “Order Online” button, if a user searches for them through Google Maps or Google Search. The customer will then be able to choose menu items, select delivery or pick-up, and make a payment with Google Pay. Users can also order food through Google Assistant on iOS or Android devices. You will simply need to say “Hey Google, order food from (insert restaurant.)" Google will also be able to get to know your restaurant and...
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Google has been steadily rolling out updates to its flagship navigation app Google Maps to add new features and functions. One of the recent navigation additions was speed limit signs for roads in some areas to let drivers know how fast they can go without a ticket. It's also come to light recently that law enforcement is using the Google Maps Timeline data that the search giant stores to catch criminals and find people who might be witnesses to a crime. A new feature is coming to Google Maps, and this is one that folks who enjoy eating out and sharing pics of their meals will appreciate. Google Maps is making a move into Yelp territory with the ability for users to upload images of their food...
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Google Maps is one of those apps that just about every smartphone user has on their device no matter if they prefer iOS or Android. Google has updated the Maps app with cool features that make it useful on your daily commute to avoid traffic, accidents, and annoying construction. The search giant is also working on adding cool features like augmented reality navigation to overlay directions on the real world. Now, a new report claims that Google is facing increasing requests from law enforcement to tie users with a Google Account to the location of a crime. The report claims that the police are casting a very wide net by sending subpoenas to Google asking for the timeline information that Google...
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Brace yourself, the April Fools' Day gags are coming. Some have even gotten a head start on the annual day of pranks. Remember that sneaky photo of NVIDIA's mysterious Project RON that popped up over the weekend? That turned out to be a humorous hoax. For some, this day is all fun and games. For Google, that is literally the case. How so? Google has transformed Google Maps into a special version of the classic Snake game. This nifty Easter Egg allows you to kill some time at work by firing up Snake on your desktop PC or on the Google Maps app for your smartphone. It gives you the option of playing in a bunch of locales, including Cairo, London, San Francisco, São Paulo, Sydney, Tokyo,...
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At last year's Google I/O conference, there was much talk about augmented reality (AR) enhancements that would be coming to the huge popular Google Maps navigation app. We haven't heard much else since the feature was first talked up, but Google is now letting a select few testers see how AR navigation works in the real world. In this case, The Wall Street Journal was given early access to a test build, which uses a combination of your phone's current location (pinpointed via GPS) and your smartphone's camera to get a "live view" of the environment around you. The upper two-thirds of the display within the app shows you the live feed from your camera; then overlays for street names,...
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Google Maps has been steadily adding new features to the app to give more functionality and match other offerings like Waze. One of the latest features that Google Maps added was speed limit indicators, but the catch was that initially those were only available in the San Francisco Bay area and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It appears that Google is now rolling the speed limit indicators out to other parts of the country. Reports from three different areas indicate that the speed limits were live on Google Maps. The three regions include New York City, Los Angeles, and Minnesota. There has been no official comment from Google on when the speed limits will roll out to other areas. With no Maps updates...
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Is your daily commute stressing you out? According to Google's historical Maps data, daily commutes during rush our traffic can be up to 60 percent longer than what drivers expect at the beginning of their drive. To help with this, Google is rolling out new features to Google Maps aimed specifically at helping drivers take control of their commute. Google is in somewhat of a unique position to analyze daily communities and understand the frustration that many drivers go through. Google Maps tallies more than 1 billion monthly active users, giving the company plenty of data points to work with. "Commute data in 25 North American cities tells us daily commute times during rush hour traffic can...
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Google Maps is widely used all around the world and it has recently been pumped full of new features, like personalized recommendations. Google is adding another feature that at first glance might seem silly. This feature sends details on how much battery charge is left on your smartphone when you share your location with someone. Why would they care how much battery life is left on your device? Parents who have kids share their location with them during transit times to and from school or a friend's home will find the battery life feature useful. A parent would be more at ease if a child shares their location data showing that their battery is at 5 percent, which would give them a...
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